


Stranded, in More Ways than One

by OctolingO



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23804725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OctolingO/pseuds/OctolingO
Comments: 25
Kudos: 110





	1. Uh Oh

“Your ship is great, Wind!” Hyrule exclaimed, leaning over the railing. 

“Thanks, but it’s not my ship.” Wind said.

“It’s mine,” Said Tetra, walking over to Wind and Hyrule, “But I’m mighty glad ya like it.”

“It almost feels like flying.” Sky said wistfully, looking out over the waves.

“I agree.” Twilight said from beside Sky.

“I dunno, it’s too peaceful.” Wild said. “Where’s the danger, the adventure?”

“Maybe we don’t always need danger and adventure, Wild.” Time said. 

“Well if ya think it’s borin’, ya haven’t seen the cannons.” Tetra said with a grin. She beckoned Wild below deck. 

“Where are Four, Legend, and Warriors?” Sky asked.

“Warriors is downstairs puking his guts out, Four’s asleep, and Legend—” Wind pointed, “—is up in the crow’s nest.” Sky looked up, where six or seven seagulls were orbiting the mast. 

“Those seagulls really like him.” Twilight pointed out. Wind nodded.

“Yeah, I’m not sure—” Wind was cut off as a blast of thunder shook the boat. He cursed (quite eloquently). “Get below deck. I’ll get Legend.” Wind’s voice was deadly serious. The other heroes looked at each other, clearly worried for their younger friend’s safety, but they did as they were told. Wind frantically climbed the ladder to the crow’s nest, finding Legend curled into a ball at the top with barely withheld tears glistening in his eyes. 

“Legend!” Wind shouted, the thunder growing louder. “We need to get below deck, there’s a storm!” Legend didn’t say anything, only continued rocking back and forth. Wind cursed again. “Sorry buddy, we really need to go.” Wind grabbed Legend’s arm, yanking the hero to his feet. He tied a rope to Legend, tying it around himself as well, and pulled out his Deku Leaf. He leapt from the crow’s nest, free falling for a split second before deploying the Leaf and drifting himself and Legend to the deck. He untied the rope and dragged his red-clad companion down below deck, where Legend seemed to regain his composure. 

“Wh—How’d I get down here?” He said.

“There’s a storm, we’re sheltering from it.” Wind said. His expression softened. “Are you okay? You were freaking out up there.”

“I’m fine.” Legend said. “Where are the others?” 

“Down a little farther—”

“Wind!” Four yelled, running up to the younger hero. “The boat is flooding in the bottom.” As Four spoke, the other heroes came running up the stairs, Twilight holding a pale Hyrule and Warriors looking greener than his tunic.

“Those stupid Gyorgs!” Wind yelled. He froze. “Where’s Tetra?”

“I’m ‘ere!” Tetra yelled, running up with an out of breath Wild behind her. “Mah ship is gonna sink. We need to abandon her.”

“What?” Wind said. “We can’t leave!”

“Look, Link…” Tetra said, putting her hand on Wind’s shoulder. “We need to evacuate or we’re gonna die.” Tetra turned to the other heroes. “Can all of ya swim?”

“I can’t!” Hyrule said, looking worried. 

“Neither can I.” Warriors said. “But I can certainly try.” 

“I’ll handle him.” Time said, patting Hyrule on the back. Hyrule smiled up at the older

hero. The moment was ruined by water beginning to well up from the bottom of the ship. Tetra and Wind let out more pirate curses, prompting Warriors to gasp and cover Hyrule’s ears. Normally, Legend would’ve snickered, but the pink-haired hero still seemed to be in shock from the thunder. 

“Let’s move.” Tetra said, running back upstairs.

“Does this boat have rafts?” Sky asked.

“No.” Tetra responded. Sky muttered something under his breath. 

The heroes emerged onto the deck, which was slippery with water. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed in the sky. Legend’s breathing became erratic, prompting Hyrule to look at him in worry. Waves smashed into the boat, ripping away railing and putting shards of shrapnel through the sails. 

“Uh, guys?” Four said, pointing. The heroes turned, each gasping or covering their mouths. There was a wave.

A  _ massive _ wave. 

It tore the boat to shreds before anyone even had time to scream.

  
  
  


Legend awoke on a large piece of wood. He was freezing cold.

He pulled out his Fire Rod, setting it beside him for light and warmth.  _ Where are the others? _ Legend looked around, seeing nothing but more pieces of wood and a single pirate’s body.  _ Oh no, come on… they can’t be dead…  _

A glint of metal caught Legend’s eye. He squinted, making out a shape floating on the water. The metal was chainmail, and the shape was Twilight. 

Legend just about threw himself off the wood to get to Twilight, but he stopped.

“The water is freezing. I’ll probably just freeze to death before I even reach him.” He paused, thinking. “I must have an item I can use…” He rummaged through his bag, coming out holding a wooden rod with leaves on the end: a Tornado Rod. He titled the Rod, away from himself and Twilight, and used it. It produced a gust of wind, pushing him towards Twilight. He used the Rod a few more times, making it to Twilight and looking at the hero. Twilight was lying face up, eyes closed. Legend could make out the rising and falling of his chest in the light of his Fire Rod. He put on his Power Glove, dragging Twilight onto the raft. Once Twilight was out of the water, Legend was able to assess the full weight of the Ordonian’s injuries. The first thing he noticed was how deathly pale Twilight was, he was almost the same color as the moon above them. 

And the raft was being stained red. 

Legend gasped—which quickly turned into a hacking cough—and looked at Twilight again. He noticed the source of the blood almost immediately. A huge gash went down Twilight’s leg, soaking his trousers and bleeding into the water. Legend cursed a curse Wind would’ve been proud of.  _ Come on Twi, wake up…  _ Legend shook Twilight’s shoulder, frowning as the other hero groaned quietly. Twilight’s hand drifted limply to his leg. 

“Oh right, the cut.” Legend muttered. “I’m stupid.” He reached into his pack, pulling out a roll of only moderately wet bandages. He wrapped them tightly around the gash, praying to Hylia (or whoever was listening) that Twilight didn’t die of blood loss. 

Wind opened his eyes, reaching up to rub crusted sand out of his eyes. 

“Mmmm…” he groaned, looking around. He was lying alone on a beach, soaking wet. He stood up. “Hello? Is anyone there?” He shouted. 

“Wind?” A distant voice yelled. “Wind, we’re on the beach! Please, help!”

“Hyrule?” Wind shouted back.

“Yeah!” Hyrule responded. Wind didn’t wait another second. He took off down the beach, almost tripping over his own feet in his rush to reach Hyrule. 

It didn’t take long for Wind to come across Hyrule and another weary member of their group: Warriors. 

“Wind!” Hyrule said. He was sitting beside Warriors, holding his arm to his chest. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”

“And I’m glad you’re alright.” Wind said with a tired smile. “What happened to your arm?”

“Broken.”

“You can’t heal it?” Hyrule shook his head.

“I’m exhausted, I don’t want to hurt myself agai—on accident.” If Wind noticed Hyrule’s slip up, he didn’t show it.

“Oh. What’s wrong with Warriors?”   
“I think… I think he’s sick.” Hyrule confessed. “He definitely has a fever, and he keeps muttering things under his breath. It should pass if we get him medical attention.”

“Which we can’t do because we’re stranded on an island.” Wind said, mostly to himself. Hyrule, however, had heard him, and the brown-haired boy nodded.

“Yeah. We need to find a shelter, first of all.” He said. 

“You think it’s safe to move Warriors?” Wind asked, with a gesture to the older’s flushed face.

“Whether it is or not, I can’t use my healing right now and we’ll die of dehydration or heat stroke if we don’t get into the forest. It’s either we die out here, or we risk dying in there.” Hyrule gestured to the forest. 

“Then forest it is.” Wind said. “How do we move Warriors? It’s not like we can carry him; he’s twice as big as I am.” 

“Then we see if he can walk on his own.” Hyrule decided. He shook Warriors’ shoulders. “Warriors? Warriors.” There was no response, aside from a groan. Hyrule sighed. “ _ Link _ . Get up, we need to go find shelter.” At hearing his real name, Warriors opened his eyes and squinted against the sun. Hyrule and Wind’s faces slowly came into focus. 

“Hyrule? Sailor? Where… where are we?”

“We’re stranded on an island.” Wind said. “We need to get into the forest to shelter.”

“Alright, and you woke me up because?”   
“Because you were unconscious and we can’t drag you.” Hyrule stated. “Now stand up, we need to get to those trees.”

“Okay, okay. Geez Doc.” Warriors stood, and immediately fell back down to the sand. “Sweet Hylia my head hurts.” He muttered. Holding out a hand to stop Wind’s protesting, he stood again, flinging his arms out for balance. He stayed upright this time.

“Lead the way, Hyrule.” He said. Hyrule nodded, beginning to walk towards the treeline.

Wind noticed he hadn’t told Warriors about his broken arm.

Sky opened his eyes, impatiently waiting for the blurry world around him to come into focus. It did, after a few seconds. There was a dark-skinned man looking over him with a worried expression. The man had dark eyes, white hair, and a bird beak instead of a nose.  _ Wait. A bird beak instead of a nose?!  _ Sky thought in alarm. He tried to sit up, only for the man to push him back into the bed.

“Relax, Hero.” The man said. “You are in rough shape.”

“How do you know I’m the Hero?” Sky asked, voice rough.

“You and your friends act a lot like. Also, your pirate friend over there told us.” The man gestured to Tetra, who was leaning against a post. She waved. Sky nodded to her, then turned back to the man. 

“My friends? So you know where they are?”   
“Two of them.” The man said. “The one with the long hair, and the one with the headband.”  _ Wild and Four.  _ Sky thought. 

“Can I see them? Are they okay?”   
“The headband one has a cut over his eye, other than that he’s fine. The long-haired one is physically okay, but he’s not talking to us, and we don’t know sign. Either way, they’re both doing a lot better than you are.”

“What do you mean?” Sky asked. The man passed a mirror to Sky. Sky held it up in front of his face, and was caught completely off guard. His face was a collage of bruises, and there were scrapes all over his cheeks and nose. He looked down at himself, and the rest of him wasn’t in a better condition. “Oh.” He said quietly.

“Sky?” A voice said. Sky turned his head, seeing Four standing in the doorway. As the man had said, there was a bloodstained bandage on his forehead. 

“Hey Four.” He said. Four’s eyes flashed bright red, and tears began welling up in his eyes. He wiped them away, turning to someone out of Sky’s line of sight. 

“He’s awake.” Wild walked into view, hands at his sides (though his fingers were nervously twitching). The man, with a nod to Sky, left the room. Tetra followed him. “Hey Sky.” Four said. “How are you feeling?”

“Alright, actually.” Sky said. “Where are we?”

“Dragon Roost Island. Those bird people are Rito.” Four said. 

“Oh. Where are the others?” At this, Four’s expression changed. 

“We don’t know.” He said quietly. “They’re not on the island with us.” Sky felt like a knife had just gone through his chest. 

“We need to go find them!” He exclaimed, sitting up and poorly concealing a wince.

“Woah there, birdbrain.” Four said. “We need to heal first.  _ You  _ need to heal first.” 

“But what if they need us? What if—”

“Sky. They’re heroes. Like me, like you, like Wild. I am  _ sure _ they will survive until we can find them.” Four’s eyes developed a bluish tone. Sky sighed, shoving the images of his friends’ mangled bodies from his imagination. He looked at Wild, whose eyes were darting around the room.

“Wild?” Sky said quietly. Wild’s head snapped towards him, mouth opening and closing. His fingers twitched again. 

_ Are you okay?  _ Sky signed.

_ No. Worried. _ Wild responded. Sky hesitated, not expecting such a straightforward response. 

_ Worried about Twi?  _ Wild flinched as he saw the sign for ‘Twilight’.

_ Not just Twi. Everyone.  _ He signed. 

_ They will be okay. _

_ We don’t know that. _ Wild responded, hands moving almost angrily.

_ Yes we do. They will be  _ fine _ , I promise. _

_ Don’t make promises you can’t keep. _ Wild spun, walking from the room. Four, who had been watching the conversation, looked at Sky.

“I can go talk to him.”

“No, don’t.” Sky said. “He’ll calm down, he just needs time. We all need time.” 

__ “We don’t have time.” Four whispered. 

Time awoke to pain. He blinked, looking around. He was lying in the sand, surrounded by some chunks of wood, most likely pieces of Tetra’s ship. His left foot was stuck in a hole, though the rest of him was free to move around. Pushing himself up, he reached around and yanked his foot from the hole. It came free easily, the water-soaked wood crumbling, and Time stood, only to collapse when his ankle gave out from under him. He resisted crying out, instead wincing and sucking in air through his teeth.  _ That’s broken.  _ He thought. Reaching out, Time tore apart the wood, and was lucky enough to discover some only mildly wet rope hiding under the wood. He created a makeshift splint and set his broken ankle. Standing once again, Time was pleased to notice his ankle didn’t collapse again, though it was extremely painful.  _ I can deal with pain. _ Limping to the forest in the center of the island, Time searched for a place to build a shelter. He found an abnormally large tree that he figured could be used to lean things on. _ There’s my foundation, now I have to get walls.  _ Time returned to the beach, retrieving the pieces of wood on the shoreline.

After a painful half-an-hour, Time had a small lean-to built, using the ship’s hull and some leaves. He crawled inside, leaning his back against the foundation tree. With a glance at his ankle, Time winced. It was swollen, and beginning to bruise.  _ Nothing I can do about that right now. _ He reasoned.  _ I’m going to need food and water before anything else.  _ Crawling back into the forest, Time forced himself to stand up. He looked around, wishing Hyrule or Wild were with him (as they were easily the best at surviving without lots of gear). There were some fruits hanging off the trees, but there was no way Time could climb one with a broken ankle. His next option would have to be a form of meat. 

The only problem was, Time had never done much hunting and he hadn’t noticed any animal s on the island.  _ I guess fish is my next option. _ Drawing his Biggoron Sword, Time went back to the beach. There were some small fish swimming along the shore, though Time doubted his reflexes were intact enough to stab one of them.  _ I might have to go for something bigger.  _ He thought. 

As he checked the coast, Time was disappointed to see that there were no larger fish swimming along the sand. He did, however, notice that there were a lot of crabs.  _ People eat crabs, right?  _ He asked himself. He then let out a breathy laugh, running his hand through his hair.  _ I should’ve spent more time talking to Wind. _ Thinking about the young hero made a spear of regret go through Time’s chest. He shook himself, leaning down and picking up a crab off the beach. 

“Now, how do you cook a crab…” 


	2. A Reuniting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are a little better...
> 
> For some at least

“Twi, please.” Legend pleaded. “Don’t do this to me. You have to wake up, please. Please. Wild needs you, Time needs you, you can’t die.” Twilight didn’t give a response. Legend had gotten the bleeding under control, though Twilight was still deathly pale. He had been completely unresponsive for almost 4 hours, and despite the fact that Twilight was still breathing, Legend was extremely worried.  
Thus, the begging.   
Legend shook Twilight’s shoulders with blood smeared hands, no don’t look at the blood, panic flooding his veins.   
“C’mon, Wolf Boy.” Legend said quietly, voice hoarse. “Don’t die. Please.” His words shook, and Legend bowed his head, tears running down his face.   
The next sound Legend heard was music to his ears.  
“Ugh…” Twilight. Awake (sort of). Legend sat up, looking at Twilight. Twilight’s cobalt blue eyes were half-lidded, but he was conscious. Twilight focused on Legend. “Legend?”  
“Yeah.” Legend said, wiping his face. “How do you feel?”  
“Head hurts. Leg hurts.” Twilight’s brows furrowed. “Where’s Cub?” Legend’s heart plummeted.   
“I don’t know.” He said, wincing. Twilight’s eyes widened. He sat up, only to let out a cry of pain and lay back down.  
“We need… find him.” Twilight said. His words were starting to slur, and Legend could tell he was losing consciousness.   
“We can’t find him, Twi. We’re stranded. On a raft.” There was a long pause before Twilight responded.  
“Oh. Can we get off?” He said, voice hopeful. He sounded so childish that Legend assumed he had a concussion along with his leg wound.  
“N-no. We’re in the middle of the ocean.”   
“ ‘s not good.” Twilight sighed. He closed his eyes, and Legend immediately shook him awake.  
“You can’t sleep right now.” Legend rifled through his brain for something to keep Twilight occupied. “Why don’t you tell me about… that stone rod you have.”  
“The Dominion Rod?”  
“Yeah, that.”  
“Alright. I got it inside the Temple of Time…”

The leaves rustled as Hyrule walked through them, returning to Wind and Warriors. The two heroes had been working on creating a form of shelter, and Hyrule had been tasked with finding food or fresh water. Wind looked up upon hearing Hyrule’s arrival.  
“Did you find anything?” The young hero asked. Hyrule nodded.  
“There are some fruit trees in the forest, but I didn’t find any fresh water. I still have to check the beach.”  
“Wait.” Wind said. He rummaged through his pack, producing a yellow pear. “Eat this first, we need to keep our strength up and the sun is scorching.” Hyrule shook his head, holding up his hand(his other one was restrained by the makeshift sling made out of Warriors’ scarf).   
“I can’t take that. We’ve only been stranded for a few hours, we shouldn’t start eating already.” Wind stubbornly shoved the pear into Hyrule’s grasp.  
“Eat it. It’s better now anyways, before it gets rotten.” Hyrule stared at the fruit in his hand, the screaming face pattern seemingly yelling at him. With a sigh, he bit into it. Bitter juices flooded his mouth, and Hyrule had to resist the urge to choke. He swallowed with a grimace, then looked at Wind.  
“That is bitter.”  
“Well, it’s meant for seagulls.” Wind said. “Whatever, just eat it.” Hyrule shrugged and finished the pear, then went to explore the shore. He was almost grateful that his Hyrule was such a wasteland; it had done a good job of preparing him for this.   
As Hyrule patrolled the beach, he noticed—with pleasure—that there were a number of fish swimming only a few feet away from the sand. There was also the odd crab, and a rock near their shelter that was covered in mussels.   
In other words, there was a whole lot of seafood.   
Now the only problem would be finding drinkable water, though the fish and fruits could probably provide some of that. I should report back—what’s that? Hyrule looked down the beach, just barely making out the silhouette of something bulky on the horizon. Moving to investigate, Hyrule saw that the something was a few chunks of wood from Tetra’s ship. There were only a few pieces, though marks in the sand suggested that there had once been more.   
There was also blood staining the sand. Hyrule examined the area. Could there have been a survivor here once? Recently? The thought made Hyrule almost giddy. Without investigating any further, Hyrule turned and ran off down the beach, returning to Wind and Warriors. 

We need to organize some sort of search party. Wild was signing.   
I know, but we should wait for Sky first.  
We don’t have unlimited time, Four. We need to find them.  
And we will. I’m sure these Rito would be willing to help us, they seem very eager to please the Hero.   
“Hey Four. Hey Wild.” A voice said. Four turned to see Sky approaching. Sky! Red said. Glad to see he’s still in one piece. Vio remarked.  
You’re okay! Wild signed. Sky nodded, sitting down.  
“Yep.” He said. “That doctor said I’m good to go, which means we can start looking for the others.”  
“Great.” Four said, and he meant it. “I’ll go ask if anyone wants to help us.”  
“Are you going to search for Link?” A Rito said, walking up to the boys with crossed arms.  
“Yeah, we are.” Sky said. “Would you like to help?”  
“I would indeed.” The Rito said with a nod. “My name is Quill. I helped Link much on his adventures, and would enjoy helping him again.”  
“Wait, what about Tetra?” Four said.  
“What about me?” Tetra interrupted.   
“Don’t you want to help search too?”  
“Nah, I gotta work on gettin’ a new ship.” More like you’re a coward, Blue said bitterly. Be quiet! Green chastised. “But hear me, ya make sure Link gets back ‘ere in one piece, alright?”  
“Of course.” Sky said solemnly. Tetra nodded, satisfied, and made her way back to the shoreline of Dragon Roost Island. Quill spoke again:  
“Do you know where you were when the storm hit?”  
“No.” Four and Sky said simultaneously. Wild however, nodded.  
We were a few hours west of here, I think. He signed. Quill looked at him in confusion.  
“I’m sorry. I don’t know Hylian Sign.” He looked at Four. “Could you translate?”  
“He says we were a few hours west of here.”  
“Alright.” Quill said. “I will do some scouting, and see what I can see.”  
“Can you take one of us with you?”  
“Not me alone, but I can see if any of my friends are willing to help out.” Quill made a series of clicks, whistles, and screeches, and four other Rito flew up to them. “Heroes, meet Ilari, Namali, Pashli, and Kogoli.” Quill gestured to the respective Rito as he spoke, and Sky nodded politely to them in turn. Quill and the Rito had a conversation in their birdlike language, before he turned back. “They agree to help. Now, I can carry you—” Quill pointed to Four, “On my own, Ilari and Namali will carry you—” Quill pointed to Sky, “And Pashli and Kogoli can carry you.” Quill pointed at Wild. “Does that sound good?”  
“If it’ll help us find our friends, it works for me.” Four said. Sky and Wild nodded. 

Time swallowed the last of his second crab, having made a fire and finally figured out how to cook the little creatures(it had taken more tries than he cared to admit). He felt better than he had when he’d washed up on this island, but that was relative to the fact that he’d been hungry and trapped under a piece of wood. Standing up and wincing; his ankle was not healing with all the weight he put on it, Time looked at his shelter. It was modest, but the roof would leak severely if it rained.   
And Time did not like the look of the dark gray clouds in the sky. I’ll just go get more wood. He thought, though part of him dreaded having to drag more of it back to the forest.   
Trudging back to the beach, Time stopped as he noticed something new in the sand: footprints.   
They were small, and obviously made by someone with boots. Time felt a small part of him dare to hope that there were other people on this island, even as most of him refused to believe it. I need to find whoever that is. Time followed the footprints until they ended at the forest’s edge. Venturing into the forest, it became more and more obvious that there was definitely at least one other person on the island: an occasional footprint in the dirt, cracked sticks.   
Time’s injured ankle suddenly caught on a tree root, sending him crashing towards the ground.   
He cried out, vision momentarily darkening. When he stood back up, feeling blood pouring from his nose, he could see shapes approaching. One of them came into focus: Hyrule. Hyrule. Thank Hylia.   
“Time?!” Hyrule sputtered. “Guys! It’s Time!”  
“Hyrule.” Time said. “Am I glad to see you.” Time let the pain he’d been feeling for the past day-and-a-half take over, and he lost consciousness.


	3. Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting better for most of our boys!

As Time collapsed, Wind and Warriors emerged from the undergrowth. Warriors was feeling much better than he had a day or two ago; he was coherent and only suffered dizziness when he stood up or did something particularly strenuous. 

“Thank Farore.” Wind said as he walked up to Time. “Warriors, Hyrule can you help me carry him back to our base?”   
“Y-yeah.” Hyrule said, shaken. 

“Sure thing.” Warriors said. The two older heroes each held up one of Time’s arms, so his feet were dragging but the rest of him was supported. Wind led the way through the trees, heart pounding, ears ringing, and thoughts racing. 

When they reached their meager shelter—crafted from logs, palm leaves, and rocks—Warriors and Hyrule were quick to lay Time down inside. 

“Is he okay?” Wind asked. 

“No.” Hyrule said. “Look at his ankle.” Wind did, and had to look away a moment later. He felt almost ashamed for not noticing the swollen mess of bruises and blood that Time’s ankle now was. 

“How in Hylia’s name did he do that?” Wind said softly. 

“Probably happened in the wreckage.” Warriors guessed. “And looks like the splint isn’t doing too well; we’ll have to make a new one when he wakes up.”

“That we will.” Hyrule agreed. “Wind, can you get some sticks for a splint?”   
“Yup!” Wind said. He turned, rushing off through the undergrowth. Warriors abruptly grasped his head and sat down with a cough.

“You okay?” Hyrule asked, alarmed. Warriors nodded.

“Fine, I guess all this activity is sorta catching up to me.” He said with a dull laugh. “I am, however, very tired. Goodnight.” Warriors closed his eyes. Hyrule smiled, and he too was feeling exhausted.  _ Wind won’t panic if I take a little nap, right?  _ He thought.  _ Probably not.  _ Hyrule nestled against a tree and fell asleep. 

“Do you see anything?” Sky shouted over the roaring wind. Ilari shook his head. 

“Nothing! Nothing besides sand!” The Rito responded. Sky sighed. He, Four, and Wild had split up to look for their missing friends, hoping it would be easier to find them. He could only hope they were having better luck than he was. 

“Wait, what’s that down there?” Four asked, pointing to an island. There appeared to be chunks of wood on the shoreline.

“It could be part of the ship.” Quill mused. “Let’s investigate.” He flew down, depositing Four on the sand. “Split up, yell if you need help.” He began flying around the coast. Four sighed, looking warily at the forest.  _ Here goes nothing…  _ Four, putting a hand on the Four Sword at his waist, ventured into the forest. After a few unsuccessful minutes of searching, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted:

“Hello? Is anyone in here?”   
“Holy Hylia—Four?!” Someone shouted back. Wind. 

“Yeah! Wind, keep talking so I can find you!”   
“Alright!” Wind began spouting random words, the majority of which Four had never heard (though he assumed they were ‘pirate words’). Four tread through the undergrowth, following the sound of Wind’s voice. He eventually found not one, but four heroes: Wind, Warriors, Time, and Hyrule. Wind was unhurt, Hyrule had a sling on his arm, Time had a splint on his ankle, and Warriors looked pale. 

“We are so glad to see you.” Wind said. “Please tell me you have a way to get us off this island.”

“I do.” Four said. “This Rito named Quill—”

“Quill? Oh, I know him!” Wind exclaimed. He then blushed. “Sorry. Continue.”   
“Quill said he can help us, so now that I’ve found you he can go get help.”

“Great.” Time said. He looked exhausted. “Go get him, we will be on the shore when he arrives with help.” 

“I will.” Four said with a nod. He turned, running back through the trees. “Quill!”

“Did you find anything?” Sky asked Wild. The two heroes had come back to Dragon Roost Island at around the same time. Wild shook his head.

“Hopefully Four is having better luck than we are.” Sky muttered. Just then, Quill and Four flew onto the landing.

“I found them!” Four exclaimed, eyes shining scarlet and with a comically large grin.

“You did?!” Sky said, standing up. “All of them?”   
“Well, no.” Four said, grimacing. “I found Wind, Hyrule, Warriors, and Time.”

“Are they alright?”

“Hyrule broke his arm, and Time broke his ankle, but other than that they’re okay.” 

“Ya found ‘em?” Tetra interrupted, having been listening in on their conversation.

“Yes.” Four said, blue eyes flashing. 

“Great. I’ll get Quill to show me where, and I can go rescue ‘em.”

“Glad to hear it!” Sky said with a smile. Tetra winked at them, then ran off to find her ship.

“What about Twilight and Legend?” Wild asked softly. It was the first time he’d spoken in days. 

“I… we still don’t know where they are.” Four said.

“We need to go back out. Find them.” Wild said. Sky nodded.

“Do you need our help again?” Ilari said, walking up to the boys. Namali, Pashli, and Kogoli—standing behind him—nodded.

“That would be great.” Sky said. “Let’s get going.”

Legend sat on the raft, staring numbly at Twilight’s limp form. After sharing a few more stories, the Ordonian had been unable to keep talking. He’d been feebly fighting to stay awake, and he’d managed it for about an hour before the dizziness and exhaustion took over. 

Legend wished he could feel afraid, but his emotions were suspiciously missing. He figured the hecticness of the last few days had something to do with it. 

“Hello?” He heard a distant shout. “Is anyone out there?”   
“Help!” Legend yelled, coughing from raising his voice. “We’re on a raft!” A few specks appeared in the sky. As the specks neared, Legend was able to make out the forms of two people being carried by four other people.

As they neared further, Legend realized the two people were Sky and Wild.

“Sky! Wild! Am I glad to see you!”

“Are you okay?” Sky said, landing on their raft and making is wobble.

“I’m fine, Twi’s not.” Legend said. Wild, who followed suit and also landed, quickly knelt beside Twilight.

“Ilari, Kogoli, Namali, Pashli, get Legend and Twilight back to Dragon Roost.” Sky said. The four men nodded, but they paused when Wild spoke.

“No. I’m not letting you take Twi away.”

“Wild, he needs medical attention.”

“I’m not getting separated again!” Wild screamed, voice cracking. He broke down into tears. “I can’t… I can’t…”

“We can take you and Legend first.” Pashli offered, looking vaguely uncomfortable. “Then we’ll come back for them.” Sky sighed.

“I supposed that’s okay.” He said reluctantly. “But you’d better fly faster than you’ve ever flown.” Pashli nodded. 

“Sure thing, hero.” He picked up Sky and Legend, flying back to Dragon Roost Island and leaving Wild alone with Twilight. Wild looked at the pale face of his mentor, swallowing the lump in his throat. 


	4. Wrapping Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I finished it quickly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so so so sorry this took so long!!! I was busy with a new puppy, and final exams, and everything just kinda spiraled downhill. I will try to update more regularly in the upcoming weeks 😬

“He’s good.” The Rito doctor said after checking over Wind. 

“Thank  _ Hylia _ !” Wind exclaimed. He practically leapt away from his sitting position on the bed, running from the wing. Time, Warriors, Hyrule, Four, Legend, and Sky were chatting. Hyrule’s makeshift scarf sling had been replaced with a real one, same with Time’s crutch and splint. Legend had a nasty cold, but he was physically unharmed.

“Wind!” Hyrule said, waving. 

“Boy I am glad to be out of there.” Wind said with an overly dramatic sigh. “Have Wild and Twilight gotten back yet?”   
“No.” Time said with a grim expression.

“But I’m sure they’ll show up any minute!” Sky offered, ever the one to try and raise the mood. 

“I hope you’re right.” Legend muttered, then sneezed. As if on cue, the four Rito flew into Dragon Roost, carrying Wild and Twilight. 

“Oh Hylia.” Time said quietly. He could not tear his eyes away from the gash that marred his Pup’s trousers. He watched in agonized silence as the Rito took Twilight inside. 

“Don’t go in.” Legend said, placing a hand on Time’s arm. “I don’t know if Twi can take seeing you right now, if he’s even coherent.” Time nodded, swallowing. He forced himself to turn away.

Three agonizing days later, Time heard the most welcome thing he’d ever heard in his life.

“Hey, Old Man.” It was Twilight. Time spun, meeting the tired but smiling face of his protegé. Time grinned, enveloping Twilight in a hug. 

“Twilight!” Wind shouted, running towards the farmhand. Wind leapt at Twilight, who managed to catch him despite being on crutches. 

“Woah, Sailor, be careful. You’re gonna knock me over.” 

“Oh. Sorry.” Wind said, blushing. Twilight ruffled Wind’s hair. 

“Hey, Country Boy.” Legend said, walking up to Twilight. He was accompanied by the other five heroes. As Legend approached, he was unexpectedly caught in a hug by Twilight. 

“Thank you.” Twilight said, voice choked. “I was so scared, that night when we told the stories…” He repressed a sob. “I was so scared I was going to die.” He said quietly. Legend awkwardly patted the taller hero on the back. 

“Looks like you have a soft spot!” Warriors teased. “Who would’ve thought?”

“I think we’ve already seen it.” Wind said with a smirk. “You all remember the cats.” This got a chuckle from the heroes. Twilight gave Legend another thankful look before turning to Wild, who was clutching his wrists until his knuckles turned white. 

“Hey Cub.” Twilight said. Wild made a noise that was halfway between a laugh and a sob, leaning forward and pressing his head into Twilight’s collarbone. He gave his mentor a tight hug.

“Don’t you  _ ever  _ do that again.” He whispered fiercely. Twilight ruffled Wild’s blonde hair. 

“I’m not planning on it.” 


End file.
